Abstract: In a method of forming an external electrode by growing plated depositions on exposed ends of a plurality of internal electrodes in a component main body, the component main body is polished to increase exposure of the internal electrodes. To prevent decreased external electrode fixing strength, a radius of curvature is reduced to about 0.01 mm or less for an R chamfered section formed in a ridge section of the component main body during polishing by ion milling, and exposed ends of the internal electrodes are recessed from end surfaces of the component main body with a recess length of about 1 ?m or less. Plating films to serve as external electrodes are formed to extend from the end surfaces of the component main body across the R chamfered section, and include end edges located on at least one of the principal surfaces and the side surfaces.

Abstract: In a method of manufacturing a laminate type electronic component, when a heat treatment is carried out after plating films, which at least partially define external electrodes, are formed by growing plated depositions deposited on exposed ends of a plurality of internal electrodes in a component main body, the presence of the plating films may not only interfere with moisture release, but may also cause blisters or bulge defects in the plating films, while moisture such as a plating solution in the component main body is removed by evaporation. To avoid such problems, cuts to divide exposed ends into multiple sections are formed in extending sections of internal electrodes. Thus, plating films include slits extending in the stacking direction at locations corresponding to positions of the cuts.

Abstract: In a laminate type ceramic electronic component, when an external electrode is formed directly by plating onto a surface of a component main body, the plating film that is to serve as the external electrode may have a low fixing strength with respect to the component main body. In order to prevent this problem, an external electrode includes a first plating layer composed of a Ni—B plating film and is first formed such that a plating deposition deposited with the exposed ends of respective internal electrodes as starting points is grown on at least an end surface of a component main body. Then, a second plating layer composed of a Ni plating film containing substantially no B is formed on the first plating layer. Preferably, the B content of the Ni—B plating film constituting the first plating layer is about 0.1 wt % to about 6 wt %.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a laminated electronic component including an electronic component main body including laminated functional layers, internal conductors which are disposed inside the electronic component main body and a portion of which are exposed portions exposed at outer surfaces of the electronic component main body, and external terminal electrodes disposed on the outer surfaces of the electronic component main body so as to connect to the internal conductors and cover the exposed portions of the internal conductors includes the step of forming a substrate plating film having an average particle diameter of metal particles of at least about 1.0 ?m on the outer surface of the electronic component main body through direct plating so as to cover the exposed portions of the internal conductors in the formation of the external terminal electrodes on the electronic component main body.

Abstract: A laminate includes ceramic layers laminated to each other. Internal conductors are embedded in the laminate and include exposed portions that are exposed between the ceramic layers at a lower surface and an upper surface of the laminate. External electrodes are directly plated on the lower surface and the upper surface so as to cover the respective exposed portions. Regions of the lower surface at which the exposed portions are provided are arranged to protrude from the other regions of the lower surface, and regions of the upper surface at which the exposed portions are provided are arranged to protrude from the other regions of the upper surface.

Abstract: An electronic component includes a laminate including a plurality of insulating layers that are laminated on each other. A capacitor conductor is embedded in the laminate and includes an exposed portion exposed between the insulating layers at a predetermined surface of the laminate. An external electrode is provided on the predetermined surface by direct plating so as to cover the exposed portion. An outer edge of the external electrode is spaced away from the exposed portion by about 0.8 ?m or more.

Abstract: A monolithic electronic component includes a laminate including a plurality of stacked insulating layers and a plurality of internal electrodes which extend between the insulating layers and which have end portions exposed at predetermined surfaces of the laminate, first plating layers disposed on the predetermined surfaces of the laminate, and second plating layers disposed on the first plating layer. The first plating layers are made of a metal different from that used to make the internal electrodes. The first plating layers are formed by electroless plating. The second plating layers are formed by electroplating.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component includes the steps of preparing a laminate including a plurality of laminated insulating layers and a plurality of internal electrodes disposed along interfaces between the insulating layers, edges of the internal electrodes being exposed at a predetermined surface of the laminate, and forming an external electrode on the predetermined surface to electrically connect exposed the edges of the internal electrodes. The step of forming an external electrode includes a plating step of forming a continuous plating film by depositing plating deposits on the edges of the internal electrodes exposed at the predetermined surface and by performing plating growth to be connected to each other, and a heat treatment step of performing a heat treatment at an oxygen partial pressure of about 5 ppm or less and at a temperature of about 600° C. or more.

Abstract: When an external terminal electrode of a ceramic electronic component such as a laminated ceramic capacitor is formed by plating, plating growth may be also caused even in an undesired location. The ceramic surface provided by a component main body is configured to include a high plating growth region of, for example, a barium titanate based ceramic, which exhibits relatively high plating growth, and a low plating growth region of, for example, a calcium zirconate based ceramic, which exhibits relatively low plating growth. The plating film constituting a first layer to define a base for an external terminal electrode is formed in such a way that the growth of a plated deposit deposited with conductive surfaces provided by exposed ends of internal electrodes as starting points is limited so as not to cross over a boundary between the high plating growth region and the low plating growth region toward the low plating growth region.

Abstract: A method for producing a laminated ceramic capacitor allows a surface of at least a portion of a ceramic element body chip to be brought into contact with a plated layer formed in advance in a mold member, and performs heat processing on the ceramic element body chip in that contact state, thereby to form an external conductor layer made of the plated layer on the surface of at least the portion of the ceramic element body chip. Thus, a method and an apparatus for producing a ceramic electronic component accurately and precisely controls the thickness of the external conductor layer to be small, and easily controls the length of the external conductor layer.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a laminated ceramic electronic component enables formation of a plating film as at least a portion of an external electrode which connects exposed ends of internal electrodes. A component main body including a plurality of ceramic layers and a plurality of internal electrodes partially exposed from the component main body is prepared such that the component main body has a conductive region formed by diffusion of a conductive component included in the internal electrodes at the end surfaces of the ceramic layers located between adjacent exposed ends of the plurality of internal electrodes. The ceramic layers are preferably composed of a glass ceramic containing a glass component of about 10 weight % or more. A plating film is formed directly on the component main body by growing the exposed ends of the internal electrodes and the conductive region as nucleuses for plating deposition.

Abstract: A laminated electronic component includes a component body including a plurality of laminated functional layers, a plurality of internal conductors provided inside the component body, and an external terminal electrode that is electrically connected to an internal conductor via an exposed portion of the internal conductor and that is defined by a direct plating film. An average grain diameter of metal grains defining the plating film is about 0.1 ?m or less.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a ceramic electronic component includes the steps of preparing a ceramic body including a plurality of first internal electrodes and a plurality of second internal electrodes, processing the ceramic body to an internal electrode exposure rate of about 102% to about 153%, and plating the processed ceramic body to form a plated layer thereon.

Abstract: An electronic component, preferably in the form of a laminated ceramic capacitor, which suppresses the growth of whiskers and has excellent solderability, includes an electronic component element in the shape of, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped. External electrodes of terminal electrodes are located on first and second end surfaces of the electronic component element. First plated films including plated Ni are located on the surfaces of the external electrodes. Second plated films are located on the surfaces of the first plated films. The second plated films have stacked structures including first plated layers and second plated layers. The second plated layers have lower degrees of densification than the first plated layers.

Abstract: A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body, a first external electrode, and a second external electrode. The first and second external electrodes are disposed on a principal surface, which is directed to the mounting surface side, of the ceramic body so as to face each other with a predetermined gap region therebetween. The external electrodes each include a base layer and a Cu plating layer which covers the base layer. In each of the first and second external electrodes, an expression 0.1?t/d?0.5 is satisfied, where t is a thickness of the Cu plating layer at an end of the base layer on a gap region side, and d is a distance from the end of the base layer on the gap region side to an end of the Cu plating layer on the gap region side.

Abstract: In a method for manufacturing a multilayer electronic component, after a plating layer for forming an external electrode is formed on an end surface of a laminate, conditions for heat-treating the laminate are set such that interdiffusion layers have ends which face internal electrodes and which are spaced from the end surface of the laminate at a distance of about 0.5 ?m to about 1.9 ?m.

Abstract: A ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and a plurality of external electrodes disposed at a surface of the ceramic body. The external electrodes include a plating layer containing glass particles each coated with a metal film. The plating layer is formed by co-deposition of a plating metal and the metal-coated glass particles.

Abstract: An electronic component that prevents or minimizes whiskers or has good solder wettability includes a rectangular solid-shaped electronic component element and external electrodes of terminal electrodes provided at opposed end surfaces of the electronic component element. First plated films including Ni are provided on the surfaces of the external electrodes. Second plated films including Sn defining an outermost layer are arranged so as to cover the first plated films. The second plated films have a polycrystalline structure, and flake-shaped Sn—Ni alloy grains are provided at a Sn crystal grain boundary. Intermetallic compound layers including Ni3Sn4 are provided at interfaces between the first plated films and the second plated films.

Abstract: A laminated ceramic capacitor includes a rectangular solid-shaped electronic component element. External electrodes of terminal electrodes are disposed at one end surface and the other end surface of the electronic component element. First plated films including a Ni plating are disposed on the surfaces of external electrodes. On the surfaces of the first plated films, second plated films containing Sn are disposed as Sn-plated films defining outermost layers of the external electrodes. The second plated films have a polycrystalline structure, and flake-shaped Sn—Ni alloy grains are located at a Sn crystal grain boundary and within a Sn crystal grain, respectively.

Abstract: An airbag apparatus includes a gas generator that generates gas, and an airbag inflated and deployed by the gas supplied from the gas generator. The airbag restrains an occupant in a first state in which the occupant's chin is positioned on the airbag apparatus or the occupant in a second state in which the occupant's chin is positioned on a steering wheel. The airbag includes one main exhaust port, a vent cover provided to cover the one main exhaust port, and at least one sub exhaust port without a vent cover. The sub exhaust port exhausts the gas without using the main exhaust port in a state in which the vent cover blocks the main exhaust port due to a folded state of the airbag in an initial stage of an inflating and deploying operation performed to restrain the occupant in the first state or in the second state.